Bodies of 74 migrants wash up on Libya beach

What you need to know:

Residents of the village of Harcha, outside Zawiya, 45 kilometres from Tripoli, alerted the emergency services after finding a wrecked boat on the beach with bodies inside, the Red Crescent said.

Harcha. The bodies of 74 migrants who drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe have washed up on a beach west of the Libyan capital, the Red Crescent said Tuesday.

Residents of the village of Harcha, outside Zawiya, 45 kilometres from Tripoli, alerted the emergency services after finding a wrecked boat on the beach with bodies inside, the Red Crescent said.

More were discovered elsewhere on the beach and still more were feared to be in the sea.

A long row of black and white body bags was seen lined up near the water’s edge.

We don’t have an appropriate vehicle to transport the bodies or a cemetery for unidentified bodies to bury them in,” the group said.

“Some bodies are still on the beach and others that we can’t reach are still floating in the water.”

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the boat was reported to have foundered on Sunday, leaving as many as 100 people dead.

“Traffickers reportedly stole the engine and left it to drift,” the agency said. “A survivor, reportedly in a coma, was transferred to hospital.”

The agency said that if confirmed, the deaths would bring the total number of migrants killed trying to cross the Mediterranean so far this year to more than 365.

It said that 187 migrants were rescued off Zawiya on Saturday, and were currently being held in a detention centre.

The tragedy is believed to be the worst since around 180 people were estimated to have died on January 14 when a migrant boat capsized off the coast of Libya.

Since then, hundreds of people have been plucked from the waters north of the African nation, including 700 on January 30 alone off the western city of Sabratha.

On Tuesday Italy’s coast guard said it rescued around another 630 migrants off the coast of Libya from two drifting vessels. (AFP)